High Speed Passenger Trains

(i) Pune-Mumbai-Ahmedabad-650 km The final report submitted by the Consultant has been accepted by the Ministry of Railways. The construction cost is estimated to be Rs. 49076 crore, and cost of rolling stock as Rs. 6783 crore (both at 2009 price level). The Internal Rate of Return (IRR) comes to 11.42 per cent.

(ii) Delhi-Agra-Lucknow-Varanasi-Patna 991 km The Consultant has submitted the Final Report to Ministry and the same is under examination.

(iii) Howrah-Haldia 135 km The Consultant has submitted the Final Report to Ministry and the same is under examination.

Government of India through the Ministry of Railways has signed a Memorandum of Undertaking (MoU) with Kingdom of Spain, Government of the Peoples Republic of China and the Federal Ministry of Transport, Innovation and Technology of the Republic of Austria, for cooperation in various areas of rail technology.

This information was given by the Minister of State for Railways Shri Kotla Jaya Surya Prakash Reddy in written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha today.